Entries By casey grom
Hello again everyone.
Today the team left behind the busy streets of Moscow and made our way south to
Mt. Elbrus. It was mostly a travel day with a flight over the middle of Russia, which is predominately rural. It's very much like our own Midwest in that its mostly agriculturally-based terrain. We landed in Mineralnye Vody, which translates to mineral water in Russian, and is obviously known for its abundant natural springs.
From there we rode in our local outfitters van for about three and a half hours to Cheget, a small ski town in the winter that sits at the base of this big mountain. Along the way we passed endless sunflower fields and many Mosques. The area around
Elbrus is predominately Muslim from its original Turkish roots. We finished the day with a wonderful traditional meal cooked by a few kind older ladies that live here. Everyone is doing great and ready to stretch their legs tomorrow.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew
On The Map
The team had a wonderful day here in
Moscow. After a night of much needed sleep, the team set out and explored the city on foot. Not far from our hotel is the famous Red Square, Kremlin and GUM (sort of a super mall for the elite). Most team members did a little adventuring on their own in the morning, then met up later for a guided tour of the Kremlin. We spent a little over four hours visiting the beautiful grounds, and many churches that exist within the compound.
It was a really enjoyable day for all even though there was a bit of rain here today. We finished the day off with another great meal at a local cafe where we communicated with lots of finger pointing at the menu and plenty of smiles.
Everyone is doing great and looking forward to heading to the mountains tomorrow.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew
Hello everyone,
Teams all here! Excited and I'm sure a little tired after such long flights and the big change in time zones. We kept things pretty simple with just a brief round of introductions and dinner. Tomorrow we'll stretch our legs and explore the city.
RMI Guide
Casey Grom and Crew
What a day, what a day!
We started the day off with a nice walking tour of this majestic city with our kind Russian guide Natasha. She led us around
St. Petersburg stopping by the major highlights this city is know for and educated us to its deep history. We visited the Church of the Savior of Spilled Blood, St. Peter's Square, and St. Isaac's Cathedral along with many other beautiful sites. We took a brief break for lunch and explored a little on our own. Most of the team visited the Hermitage know for its incredible art collection, while others sought out their own adventure.
We reconvened around 8 and Natasha took us on a spectacular boat tour on the many canals that intertwine this city. The day was very rewarding for everyone and I'm pretty sure everyone would love to stay longer.
It has been a wonderful adventure the last two weeks with a great team! In a way it's sad that we've reached the end of this trip. Good times were had and good friends were made!
Missing all of our families and most of our friends.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew
It was another long day here in
Russia, but the team has finally arrived in beautiful St. Petersburg. We spent most of the day traveling and have just finished the day with a wonderful Indian meal and a nice stroll to stretch the legs.
Everyone is doing great and we are looking forward to taking in the sights tomorrow.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew
Success feels good, and we soaked it up by relaxing around our hotel today. The team spent most of the day close to the hotel on our iPhones and visiting the local market for a few trinkets.
We wrapped up the day with our post climb celebration dinner at a nearby cafe. We had a Russian BBQ with wonderful soup and a potato salad. The team received summit certificates from our outfitter and from
RMI, and made a few toast with a little vodka too.
Everyone is doing great and are looking forward to seeing
St. Petersburg in the upcoming days.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew
We did it!
The whole team managed to stand on the highest point in Europe this morning. Everyone did a fantastic job of taking care of themselves and pushed hard in the thin air. It was a beautiful day for sure, in fact it was the nicest summit on
Elbrus I've had. Not too cold and just the slightest breeze.
We spent about a half hour on top then quickly descended all the way back to the Barrels. After a quick lunch, we packed up and made our way back down to Cheget to our hotel where everyone ran for the first shower in days.
The team is doing great and are looking forward to some much earned sleep.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and the summiteers
On The Map
Today was our rest day, and that's exactly what we did!
We started the day off with a brief review of how to use our ice axes and crampons just a few feet from our camp at 12,000' on
Mt. Elbrus (there's plenty of snow very near). And quickly transitioned into another delicious breakfast with plenty of coffee. Once our bellies were full everyone returned to our bunk space and relaxed till lunch. It is vacation after all! We had lunch and then discussed tomorrows climbing plan so that we could do a little prep work before settling in tonight. If all goes well our plan is to have breakfast at 1am then catch a snow cat ride up to about 15,000ft and begin our climb from where we left off yesterday. I'm expecting the climb to take about 6-8 hours up and about 3-4 ours back down. So, if all goes according to plan we should be on top around 9 a.m. our time!
Everyone is excited for tomorrow.
Wish us luck!
RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew
On The Map
Hello again from Russia!
We woke to clear skies and cool temps which made for nearly perfect hiking conditions on
Mt. Elbrus. After a wonderful breakfast of porridge and mini pancakes prepared by our friendly Russian cook, we set out on another acclimatization hike. The team did great and reached an altitude of just over 15,000' in a little under 4 hours. On our descent the clouds came in and almost like clockwork began sprinkling on us right as we pulled back into camp. Lucky us!
We had another delicious lunch and some of us played a little cribbage, while others retired for a nice siesta.
Everyone is in good spirits and looking forward to having a rest day before our upcoming climb.
RMI Guide Casey and crew
On The Map
The team had a leisurely start to the day with breakfast at 8 as everyone is still getting their internal clocks set. After getting packed up last night and checking out of the hotel today we made our way over to the big gondola. We rode two gondolas and one small chairlift up the mountain to our new home here at 12,000', where there are several huts including one for dining. The Garabashi Hut is also call the "barrels" because of the round shape of the huts. They are a little worn, but warm and dry nonetheless.
It was a pretty easy transition for the team and once everyone was settled we headed out the door on another
acclimatization hike. We hiked for about 2 hours which took us up to about 13,500'. We then descended back to camp and had a great lunch of Bortch, a variety of fruits, salami, and cheese.
Everyone is doing great and are enjoying the beautiful weather and amazing views of the Caucasus mountain range.
RMI Guide Casey Grom and crew
On The Map
Vikas
Just wanted to check on you. Reply us back through Casey. Good luck
VILAS & CHAYA
Posted by: Vilas Lonakadi on 7/23/2013 at 10:07 am
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